


You Can't Just Kidnap A Man's Butler

by the13thCaretaker



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 07:17:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6274936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the13thCaretaker/pseuds/the13thCaretaker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edwin Jarvis is kidnapped one night and Howard calls in Peggy to help. Ana is worried sick and Tiny Tony misses his best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

There was a loud knocking at the door of the Jarvis’ apartments on the Stark property. Ana looked up from her drawing as Edwin got up to answer the door, disappointed that Benny Goodman had been interrupted. It was unusual for the Starks to be calling for their butler at this hour, but then Ana wondered if little Tony had run over after a nightmare or because of Howard being drunk. She soon discovered it was not.

Ana frowned as she heard loud voices, rising over her husband’s calm but now stressed sounding tone. She gasped as she heard a smack and a pained grunt from Edwin. Their Bernese Mountain puppy was barking madly now and Ana was jumping to her feet and running to door. When she came to the scene, there were two other men holding a struggling Edwin, and another who was pulling of the puppy. Her husband caught sight of her and an expression of worry crossed his face.

 

“Ana, run! Get out of here!” he shouted out to her.

 

The one man struggling with Claudia threw the pup to the side and started towards Ana, drawing a gun.

 

“Take him to the car,” he barked to the other men. Ana was frozen with fear where she stood, she had faced a gun before but not with her husband being kidnapped in front of her before.

 

“No!” Edwin shouted defiantly, the threat advancing to his wife giving him an outburst of strength as he yanked himself away from the other two men. He grabbed the leader of the thugs and spun him around, throwing a powerful right hook into his jaw. Jarvis’ hand immediately stung, but finally Ana got a hold of her wits as he told her to get help.

 

She ran out of their house, running to the mansion to get Mr. Stark, one of the staff, anyone, for help. Behind her, the three larger men were too much for the butler and they dragged him to a black car. To cease his ever constant struggling, one hit him with butt of a gun, causing him to instantly sag in their arms.

 

When Howard, who had been shocked into being sober, and Ana ran out, they were just in time to see the lanky form of Edwin being folded into the trunk of the car before it drove away. Ana immediately burst into sobs, and Howard quickly led her inside before running to the phone to call Peggy Carter.

 

The next morning when Tony Stark woke up he was disappointed to find that Jarvis wasn’t there to greet him like usual. Rubbing his eyes, the toddler sat up and yawned. Maybe Jarvis was down fixing him breakfast. The toddler slid out of bed, gripping onto his teddy bear and opened the door. Downstairs he heard his father, and someone else speaking… he gasped in excitement. It sounded like Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel! Tony quickly ran to the stairs and went as fast as he could down them before running to where Aunt Peggy and his father were speaking.

 

“Aunt Peggy!” he shouted happily, toddling over and hugging her legs.

 

“Tony, go back to bed,” Howard said almost immediately and Tony frowned. But Peggy bent down and picked Tony up.

 

Tony smiled happily at her, but it faded slightly when he saw her face. She had the kind of smile that mom had when she pretended she was happy. Looking at his father and Uncle Daniel, he knew something was wrong. Suddenly he wanted Jarvis, but where was he?

 

“Where’s Jarvis?” Tony tried, “He likes to see you Aunt Peggy.”

 

Peggy shot a glance at Howard, but he was staring out the window in the yard, so she looked back at Tony. “Darling… Mr. Jarvis, last night…”

 

“He’s not dead is he?!” Tony blurted out in worry.

 

“No! No, no, darling, he’s not dead, but he is in a lot of danger right now. We will get him back though, so don’t worry,” Peggy said, reassuring him.

 

He looked at her, she was worried, but he nodded. Aunt Peggy was a superhero, she would bring Jarvis back.


	2. 2

Jarvis woke up with a dull headache and everything was still dark. He heard voices and feet shuffling around him, and he lifted his head slightly. It didn’t take him long to realize it was so dark because of the cloth bag covering his head. He tried moving his hands up to take it off but discovered his hands were tied securely behind him. Testing his legs, he found his ankles were also tied. Desperately, he tried to keep the feeling of panic that threatened to wash over him down. 

“He’s wakin’ up,” someone said. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light as the bag was yanked off his head and he screwed his eyes shut. 

“Good morning sleeping beauty,” grunted one of the men.

Jarvis wasn’t sure what to say, what did these men want, what was going on and why? 

“I’d like to say, the hospitality here is rather disappointing,” he said dryly, surprised and slightly impressed with himself when his voice didn’t quiver with fright.

The first man chuckled, a deep throaty sound, and bent down so he was face to face with Jarvis. It was all the butler could do from scrunching up his nose at the smell of the man’s breath.

“And I’d like to say that the hospitality Howard Stark gave us wasn’t nearly as nice,” he said with a sneer.

Jarvis frowned. So they were unsatisfied to the point of violence, but decided to kidnap the family butler? His heart skipped a beat as he realized Tony or Maria could have been captured, what if they had? He hoped he was the only one.

“I’m certain there were sound reasons,” Jarvis said calmly, “And Mr. Stark would be more than happy to negotiate with you, I assure you there is no need for this behavior, acting like a spoiled child who didn’t get his way.”

The man sneered and the next thing Jarvis knew his head snapped to the side as fist pounded into his face. 

“Don’t you talk smack to me,” he snarled, “Once Stark sees his trusty butler in your future state, he’ll be willing to pay me what he owes.”

Gently running his tongue over his bloody lip, Jarvis looked at the man. “You really think he’ll do something like that to save a butler?” he said doubtfully. He hoped that Howard would find a way to get him out of here, and dreaded the thought of him not willing to pay it.

“You’d better hope he will,” the man said threateningly.

0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0

Peggy paced the floor of her office, looking at the results from finger prints and tire tracks. Howard had given her the name and type of car from the tire tracks and Ana’s description of it. She also had received a list from him of the people he had done business with lately, and which ones seemed shady. 

Daniel came in and Peggy barely noticed the tap on the floor from his crutch.

“Peg…” he said softly and she paused her pacing to look at him. “We’ll find him. Jarvis may not look like much, but he can stick it out.”

Peggy nodded silently, chewing on her lower lip slightly. Jarvis had become her closest friend, she would not lose him, but she was scared. What was happening to him? Daniel came over and wrapped his arm around her and she willingly sank into his embrace.

Looking over Daniel’s shoulder and down at the table she noticed something and felt her heart light up with hope. 

“Daniel, look at this,” she said, letting go of him and pulling a few papers together. “The car company, they sell the cars like the one Mrs. Jarvis saw.”

Daniel looked at them and raised his eyebrows. “You think..?”

“We have to try. Come, let’s find Howard.”

0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0

Tony sat on the stairs, clutching the teddy Jarvis put him to bed with the night before to his chest. The youngest Stark had barely moved from his spot all day, refusing to eat anything unless it was one of Jarvis’ peanut butter jelly sandwiches. He wanted someone to hug him and hold him and tell him it was going to be okay, but his dad would never do that, his mother was halfway across the country right now and Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel were trying to find Jarvis. Suddenly he wondered where Ana was, and what she was doing, he hadn’t seen her all day.

Still clutching the bear, Tony got up and made his way down the stairs. He opened the back door and toddled towards the Jarvises little house. Claudia their puppy was giving Bernard the flamingo funny looks, but she bounded to Tony as he came across the yard. He paused to pet her and gently stroke her soft fur, smiling when she licked his cheek. He looked up at the little house, almost scared because he wondered if Ana was in there crying. 

Determinedly, the little boy stepped up to the door and knocked. He waited for a couple of moments before the door was opened to reveal the Butler’s wife. Tony thought she always looked so pretty and kind, she still did but her eyes were red and puffy and she looked tired.

“Master Tony!” she exclaimed, “What are you doing here, sweetie?”

“I-…” Tony trailed off and paused. A moment later he found he had gone over and simply gave her a hug. Ana seemed surprised almost at first, but bent down and lifted his small frame up into her arms, eyes brimming with fresh arms.

“Jar is going to be okay. Aunt Peggy is looking for him and Aunt Peggy worked with Captain America and Captain America was a super hero, so that makes her one too and she’s going to find him with Uncle Danny. He’s like her sidekick. Jarvis will be okay,” Tony said, looking at her and twisting the teddy bear’s ear slightly nervously in his hands.

Ana smiled at him through her tears and hugged him close to her. “Thank you Master Tony,” she said, still sounding like she was going to cry. Tony wrapped his arms around her neck and laid his head on her shoulder, not saying anything else.

0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0

Jarvis couldn’t help but cry out this time as another blow was landed to his abdomen, this time with a baseball bat. He struggled to breathe as the air was knocked out of him.

“Gag him,” snorted the lead man. 

Immediately Jarvis’ mouth was filled with something like an old sock and a cloth tied around the back of his head. It tasted awful but got worse as the metallic taste of blood mixed with it. The ringleader forcefully lifted Jarvis’ chin up and smirked.   
“Having fun?” he asked. He grabbed a fistful of Jarvis’ normally tidy hair and held his head up. Jarvis breathed heavily through his nose, blood running freely out of it, and eyed the man. He closed his eyes, knowing what was coming as a fist was raised. It connected to his face and his head wasn’t able to react properly or move out of the way; and it h u r t. Jarvis let out a scream of pain that was muffled by the sour gag.

The man let go of him and turned to the other two. “Call Stark.”

0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0

As soon as Peggy found Howard she grew even more worried, seeing him holding the phone to his ear and his face ashen white. 

“Howard?” she said, grabbing his attention.

“It’s them,” he mouthed.

Peggy and Daniel immediately went over and leaned in close to listen.

“If you don’t pay up, you can be sure your loyal dog of a butler will endure much more pain before we kill him,” they were saying. Peggy felt concern, anger, and worry rise up in her throat. Daniel was tense too as he listened.

“Let me speak to him,” demanded Howard, “I need to know he’s still alive.”

There was a rustling on the end of the line and it grew silent before they heard Jarvis’ broken voice.

“Sir?” he croaked. He sounded terrible.

“Oh god, Jarvis, are you okay?” Howard breathed.

“Splendid, sir,” came the answer, although his voice told them the complete opposite.

“We’re coming to get you pal, hang in there. Ana will throttle me if you don’t,” Howard said.

The trio on the line at the Stark mansion all gasped as a loud crack sounded and they heard Jarvis cry out in pain. 

“You have an hour, come alone,” said the man, before hanging up.

Howard dropped the phone down on the counter, not bothering to put it in the receiver. 

“We’re going with you. We’ll drive separately,” said Peggy, taking charge, “We have their location. Daniel and I will come in from behind while you go with a briefcase to the front. We’ll take care of it.”

Howard nodded firmly and grabbed his coat.

0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0

Howard to the most obvious road to the building where the men with Jarvis were supposed to be and Peggy and Daniel took an alley that led to the back of the building. The Stark inventor climbed out of his car, gripping a large black briefcase. Two goons came out to meet him and escorted him inside.

 

Peggy and Daniel silently made their way in as well, navigating through the building until the came to a door that led to where the exchange was taking place. Opening it a crack and peeking in they saw the back of a man gripping Jarvis by the shoulder, half keeping the lanky man standing up as he probably couldn’t by himself. From behind Jarvis didn’t look too bad, but Peggy suspected he looked much worse face to face. His hands were tied behind his back with thick rope and a gun was raised to his head, ready to blow his brains out as Howard walked in. 

 

“I got what you want,” Howard said, holding up the briefcase.

 

“Show me,” snapped the man.

 

That was Peggy and Daniel’s cue. Together they flung open the door and burst in behind the man. Peggy grabbed the arm with gun and twisted it none too gently behind him. Daniel pointed his gun at one of the other men and Howard pulled out his own, pointing it at the last one.

 

“You’re all under arrest for kidnapping, blackmailing and trespassing,” Peggy said, not bothering to keep her anger out of her tone. “Daniel, if you could take care of Mr. Jarvis, before he collapses.”

 

Before Daniel could do anything the ringleader of the men drew his other elbow back and slammed it into Peggy’s side. She shouted in surprise and lost her grip on him. He quickly shoved Daniel aside, grabbing a gun and shot Jarvis in the shoulder. His muffled scream sounded through the gag and another as the man stepped heavily on the same shoulder. Jarvis screamed in pain, choking on the gag and tears flowing from his eyes.

 

“Mr. Jarvis!” yelled Peggy desperately.

 

“Enough!” shouted the man, pointing his gun at Jarvis’ head. “I guess I’ll have to kill him and all of you now.”

 

A gunshot rang out, followed by several more. 

 

Peggy’s heart nearly stopped, but she soon realized it was the man who had fired. Instead, the brute had fallen down beside Jarvis, soon followed by the two other men. It was Howard. Howard had shot the main man, right through the head. Daniel had taken the liberty of shooting the others in the foot, so that they were still alive, but the ringleader was dead for certain. Howard dragged away the man and they all gathered around Jarvis, working together to get the gag off and untie his hands. Daniel took of his jacket and pressed it to the bullet wound in the butler’s shoulder, causing him to gasp in pain.

 

“Mr. Jarvis, look at me, focus on me,” Peggy was saying and gripping his hand. 

 

“We’re getting you to a hospital,” said Howard.

 

Jarvis nodded weakly and lost conscious as his employer and friend carried him to the car.

 

0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0

Ana bit her lower lip nervously, taking another look out the window and watching the empty driveway. Rose had come over to be with her while Peggy, Daniel, and Howard went to get her husband and was currently playing hangman with Tony. Ana had played a few rounds, but couldn’t sit still anymore. They had received a call from Peggy, telling them that they were at the hospital, but Edwin would recover quickly. That call felt like it came hours ago now.

 

Rose came in, and stood next to her, putting a comforting hand on Ana’s shoulder. Ana was thankful she had come and for all that she did to help. She was also touched by everything little Tony was doing to cheer her up too.

 

Then Ana saw the car pull into the driveway. Rose must have opened the door for her because she didn’t remember opening it before running out to meet them. Peggy climbed out first, helping Edwin out of the car. She gasped and raised a hand over her mouth at the sight of him. He had a bandage around his forehead, with his hair poking out over it very untidily, his left eye was surrounded by a purple bruise, there were other small cuts and bruises all around, a sling was holding his arm and he limped slightly when he walked. However when he saw Ana standing there waiting for him his face lit up happily and she thought he was the most beautiful thing.

 

Ana ran to Edwin, embracing him close to her. He winced slightly, putting his free arm loosely around her and she loosened her grip. Tears of relief fell freely from her eyes and she cried into the shoulder of his waistcoat. Edwin planted a kiss on the crown of her head, tears stinging his own eyes.

 

There was a delighted squeal from the door and Jarvis looked up to see young Tony running towards them, all smiles and happiness. Ana kept a hand on her husband as Tony ran to Jarvis, throwing himself onto his legs and hugging him tightly. Jarvis grunted and was thankful for his wife’s hold, helping him keep his balance.

 

“I knew you’d be okay!” Tony yelled happily, smiling widely up at the tall man. 

 

“Well, you’re a smart boy Master Tony,” Jarvis said with a chuckle. 

 

“Edwin-“ Ana said worriedly as Jarvis knelt down, concerned he’d hurt himself more, but he carefully lowered himself down on the concrete and Tony eagerly, but gently, wrapped his arms around Jarvis’ neck in a warm hug.

 

The Stark's butler was home.


End file.
